


Where were you when the world ended?

by KPenDragon



Series: KP's Primeverse [2]
Category: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers: Prime
Genre: All original cast, Gen, Only the universe is related to canon, Original Character(s), Original Character-centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-15
Updated: 2013-09-15
Packaged: 2018-02-12 05:35:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,576
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2097600
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KPenDragon/pseuds/KPenDragon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>My TFOCs talk about where they were when the War started.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Where were you when the world ended?

**Author's Note:**

> This was really my first attempt at writing a TF fic, and a way to figure out my group's established group dynamics. So it's not perfect, but it's still a good piece for my canon.

Sundown had come and went; the military base was pretty much closed up for the night. Everyone off duty were expected to be in for the night, and the same applied for their inhuman guests as well. Unfortunately, it seemed like the newest recruits hadn’t gotten the memo; or maybe they had seeing as they were trying o sneak back in undetected.

“So does it look clear?” the black and red mech asked.

The scraggly teen looked around the corner of the hanger they had been given to call home.

“I think they’re all in for the night,” the human looked back to his robotic companion.

“Good,” the bot seemed to sigh in relief at that, and then moved to pick up his small charger. “Like I need another one of Lady Bite’s lectures,” he went in carrying the teen in his palm, “About being,” and once he was past the second set of doors, “Responsible…”

There were the four older bots, sitting around, engaged in conversation.

“Scrap,” the younger bot mumbled, the human sharing that sentiment.

“Oi, ain’t it past your bedtime there junior,” the seeker was the first to notice him; his words made the others take notice then too.

“Uh, well, yeah, I guess,” the PT Cruiser coughed slightly.

“Well don’t just sit there kiddo,” the truck beckoned him over to join them. “Come on over and pop a squat.”

The two other bots groaned at different degrees at that. The younger mech stood confused for a moment, but came over all the sane, taking the offered seat on the truck’s free side. He then set the human down once he was situated.

“Oh great, the mammal is here too,” the red femme mumbled.

The seeker at her left shot her a slight look, but she ignored it. Her comment went otherwise unaddressed as he younger bot looked to the more agreeable being across from him.

“So what are you guys doing?”

“Nothing much,” he stretched a bit, loosening up a stiff joint or two as he did so. “Just talking.”

“Wow, you guys don’t really do much, hu?”

Green optics narrowed at the human. “Look who’s talking ape.”

“Aye Lady, cut the kids some slack.”

The femme growled low, and got up from her spot.

“Maybe we should just go,” the human spoke up again, looking to the PT Cruiser.

“Oh no you don’t,” the truck chuckled, grabbing the younger mech by the shoulder to ensure he wouldn’t move. “Not when we’re just gonna start playing the game.”

“Game? What game?”

The green mech grinned and cocked an eyebrow, earning a communal groan from his companions.

“What?”

“Pft, they’re just being party poopers.”

“No, we’ve just grown tired of repeating this,” the teal mech at his side sighed. “You see boys, when the four of us first came together, the Major suggested several “get to know you” games and exercises for us to become better acquainted.”

“Like it’s done us any good.”

He shot the femme a look, but continued none the less, “The one Liftkit is referring to, that he always refers to, is the “Where were you when the world ended?” one.”

“Hu?” he blinked his blue optics at that.

“You know,” the seeker offered now, “What were you doing when the war started.”

The femme scoffed. “I doubt the kid was even online when that happened.”

“Hey! I…wait, no, yeah,” it took him a moment to think about it, but ultimately the warrior woman was right.

“And we seriously let him out of this box?”

“Just drop it Lady.”

She shot the seeker a sharp look for that, which he equally and evenly matched. Tensions started to thicken the air between them.

“Well…” the teenager coughed, hoping to diffuse some of the thickness. “What about all of you guys?”

“Pft, we already know all of that,” Lady wrote it off.

“Yeah, but we haven’t. Speedy and me haven’t heard your stories.”

“Thom’s gottchya there Lady,” the seeker gave her a teasing little wink, which she just rolled her optics at. “‘Sides, you’re the one always complaining that he “doesn’t get it”, so explain it now then.”

She rolled her optics again, but surprisingly enough, she took her seat again, crossing her arms. “Fine, we’ll have story time, but I’m not going first.”

“Well it was Liftkit’s idea,” the seeker pointed out.

The truck shifted a little uncomfortably, being suddenly put on the spot like that. the van at his side stepped in though.

“Oh, I might as well start, seeing as it’s the least interesting,” he cleared his vocal pipes before beginning, “I was basically doing then what I’m still doing now; learning to help and to heal at the University…”  
***  
The monotone chime sounded over the speakers signaling the end of the class period. Many bots were moving about, gathering their assorted study materials or catching up to acquaintances for conversation. And those conversations were quite sparked as of late, with everyone hungry for any news from the capital building. Everyone was eager to hear if this rogue gladiator was holding his own as well in the spoken arena as he could in the Pit. That wad, everyone except one lone teal mech it seemed.

“Hey Halftime!”

He turned at the sound of his name, halfway to replacing his visor as he gathered his assorted data pads. His optics lit upon the familiar red and white bot heading his way from the opposite end of the now emptying lecture hall.

“You’re not getting your hands on my notes this time Five-Alarm,” Halftime said simply.

“No, no, not that,” the bot chuckled, following beside him as they both left the room. “Maybe later though.”

“Try not at all.”

“Oh come on, you know I’m only passing this course because of your help right now!”

“I thought you weren’t bothering to get my notes right now.”

“Right, right, yeah, no,” the red and white bot waved it off, as if wiping away his previous words from an imaginary board before them. “But later I’ll be begging, so be prepared.”

“Mmhmm. So what are you really after then?”

“What do you mean?”

The teal mech sighed, growing somewhat impatient with his companion. “Five-Alarm, please. I really don’t have time for this right now. We have this exam coming up, and what time I don’t have classes in, I have plans to study during.”

“The exam isn’t for two weeks though.”

“I know, not nearly enough time for proper preparation.”

The red and white bot just shook its head. “Halftime, look, I know you take becoming a doctor super seriously and all, but you really need to loosen up sometimes. Remember to live sometimes, you know.”

“I’ll “learn to live” as soon as I learn how to keep others alive first. I think that should qualify as a higher priority.”

Again Five-Alarm just head. “Halftime really, you need…” and he just trailed off.

Halftime paused, realizing he’d left his companion a few paces back, so thought perhaps he’d just moved out of audio range. When he looked back though, he found the bot standing with optics wide and mouth open but silent. He turned to see what had left the typically talkative bot speechless, and once he did, he too was stunned.

Data screens lined several walls in this wing of the University. Usually they were attuned to various broadcasts from the surrounding areas, and the two or three for their locale. But at that moment they all showed the same thing. The back drop was Kaon, and for those who didn’t recognize it, it was tagged as such. Then there was fire; the grand gladiatorial arena known as the Pit was ablaze. And there, addressing every set of optics, was a face the media had introduced the public to most frequently lately.

“Cybertron hear me! I am Megatron, and soon you will be mine!”  
***  
“I was just a medical student, but once there was a call to arms, we were basically rushed through field basics and sent out onto the battle fields. Not many of my classmates made it through the grind, and those that did were faced with a moral choice then. Te Decepticons didn’t start off with any real medical expertise, so they were willing to pay more.”

“Wow, I didn’t know any of that,” SpeedTrap blinked in amazement.

Halftime just shrugged.

“Well hey, if you thought that was cool wait ‘till you hear mine. No offense babe.”

The teal van rolled his optics at his partner’s antics, but made no verbal note. The green and camo printed truck leaned forward now, making sure to give the best dramatic effect to his captive audience. With one arm resting on his knee, his free hand removed the long sprig of grass he chewed on to begin his story.

“Unlike him, I wasn’t brought up in a fancy city. I was sparked, built, raised, and worked in a hard core, company mining colony off in Sector 9…”  
***  
The sun was a scorcher that day. Actually, since it was nothing but an atmosphere-less asteroid, and the “sun” was just a red star that had gathered a small asteroid and debris belt in its orbit, time was relative and subject to interpretation. But for the colony that had set up a mining operation there, they went by the standard time set by Iacon back on Cybertron. So it was “day”, and it was a scorcher. But those who worked the Energon caverns for a living didn’t let the temperature bother them. In fact, they often made it a game to liven things up.

“A’right you scrap heaps, you know the drill!” a big black mech yelled.

There were three others out in the desert-like area with him; two smaller bots in green and blue, and a larger in orange about his size. The green and orange were lined up parallel to one another, several football fields away from where he stood similarly parallel to the blue bot.

“We know the rules, just pull it Jackers!” the orange yelled.

“You ‘eard ‘im Hitch!” he called to the blue.

The black and blue bots then launched into the air large disks of ice; their supply of water for the day. The green and orange took a readying stance, then after a short count to three, both opened fire on the falling ice blocks. The object of the game was to completely decimate the ice before it could land or melt. The winner, well, got his water rations while the looser didn’t. It was a stupid game, but on this lifeless rock, they took any form of entertainment they could get.

It came down to nanoseconds on who won; it always did with those two. But in the end it was always the same.

“Alright Liftkit!” the blue bot, Hitch, called out.

The green just grinned, almost acting like he’d tip his visor. “Please, please, hold your applause.”

Hitch and Jackers were heading back their way, making it so all four bots could regroup.

“Still don’ see why ya even try ‘ere Picker,” Jackers pointed out, “He’s gottchya smoked everytime.”

The orange mech just chuckled. “What can I say, I keep hoping I’ll get lucky.”

“I keep telling ya it ain’t luck Pick, it’s aim.”

“Eh, fire power or aim,” Picker shrugged, but ended up putting an am around Liftkit’s shoulders in the sane movement. “I like the bigger boom.”

Hitch and Jackers chuckled at that; Liftkit just rolled his optics, but still had a smirk in place.

“Yeah, well, I still won, so take that Mr. Firepower,” he shrugged off the arm about his shoulders now, and started moving off.

“Hey, where you goin’ Kit?”

“Don’t we got a jog to do, or are y’all just happy gettin’ your butts kicked and not gettin’ paid.”

Hitch was quickest to catch up to Liftkit’s pace, while Picker and Jackers followed as well, but about a pace behind, talking about whatever. Hitch was still fairly new, so he and Liftkit hadn’t really had much to talk about on their own, what with Kit being colony stock and Hitch coming from Cybertron. Actually, it had been just him and the larger bots before Hitch had come along, and before that just Kit and Picker before Jackers had been transferred from a different mining operation. So he didn’t mind getting stuck with the new recruit, but sometimes he did miss having the big orange bot to himself.

“Hey Hitch,” he suddenly spoke up, startling the blue bot a bit. “Why don’t you go on ahead and see how bad ‘Cap’s been chewing us out over the radio, hu.”

The prospect of hearing their boss cussing out their mining team while they’d been out in the desert fooling around wasn’t all that appealing, but the newbie went on ahead anyways. Jackers caught sight of that, and knew what it meant, so he excused himself from his companion and went on ahead. He shot Liftkit a wink as he passed; the green mech just rolled his optics with a smirk.

“Hey, whatchya smirkin’ ‘bout?”

He just waved it off as Picker came up to him. “Nothin’, just ya know, Jackers being an aft.”

“I hear that bro,” they started walking again, his arm again finding its way to resting on the smaller bot. “So how’s the rookie workin’ out for ya?”

“Eh, he ain’t so bad, for a city kid I mean.”

“Ready to pawn him off on Jackers?”

“Oh you know it.”

Picker chuckled at that, making Kit smirk.

“What, you ain’t missin’ me then I take it?”

“Well, has been nice not havin’ to duck so much.”

Kit elbowed the larger mech in the chassis and shrugged loose of his hold, continuing forward as his partner paused to grab at the newly sore spot.

“Oof! Kit!”

“Oh look, you’re duckin’ now.”

“Kit! C’mon!”

Liftkit just smirked and kept on going. He made it back to the work site before his partner did easily. He was expecting to find his other teammates chattering, or arguing with their boss, or heck even sitting around making fun of and waiting on them-because neither of them would do more work than they’d have to. But no, what he found instead unnerved him. And Liftkit wasn’t one who got unnerved so easily.

“Hey guys…what’s going on…did ‘Cap fire us?”

Hitch’s whole frame was shaking, optics out of focus. Jackers had the radio’s headset on, listening to whatever it was receiving, but he too looked a million miles away lost. He’d only seen a bot look like this once before, and it left a knot in the pit of his stomach.

“What happened? Was there another cave in? Is somebody dead?”

At that Hitch’s hollow optics looked up to him, voice shaking, “Th-They’re all dead.”

“What?”

“Hey, what’s goin’ on?” Picker finally caught up and joined the team, finding basically the same scene Kit had.

“I don’t know, something happened. Where Hitch?”

“Kaon,” Jackers spoke up finally, removing the headset. “Kaon is burning.”

“What?!”

Hitch broke out in hysteria at that, what resolve the smaller bot had been afforded shattered. Picker grabbed him, trying to calm the blue smaller; the blue bot clung to the orange tightly. The words still didn’t register for the green, so he did the only logical thing and took the offered headset to hear for himself; his partner watching him to gauge his reaction.

The audio was scratchy at best, a poor recording played over a vast distance with all kinds of static and interference imaginable. That was normal out here; the words were not though. Those words that rang so clear and so forbidding.

“Cybertron hear me! I am Megatron, and soon you will be mine!”  
***  
“And pretty much next day we enlisted. Half the colony went voluntarily, quarter got drafted, and the rest either stayed to mine for the war effort or packed up and got outta dodge.”

“Oh yeah, I think I remember hearing about that,” Hawkeye spoke up half heartedly as he stretched. “Wasn’t that one of the Energon outposts that the Decepticons decimated?”

Liftkit’s loose posture immediately froze up, his fists tightening with a deadly amount of strength that his joints cried in protest. A hand slid slowly over the arm he had resting on his knee, from the teal mech at his side. His tension lessened, but only enough to stop the protest of his joints.

The seeker realized his mistake too late. “Oh, wow, sorry Kit, didn’t mean it that way.”

“Yeah, I bet,” he hissed through gritted teeth.

“No, really mate. My home base got shot up too you know. Vosian and proud you know.”

“You’re from Vos??” SpeedTrap’s optics lit up with recognition at that.

The British seeker grinned smoothly. “Oi indeed. Was the best there was at what I did too.”

“What did you do?”

He grinned again, optics flashing with excitement. “Why I was entertainment of course…”  
***  
“Good morning Cybertron! This is your Hawkeye in the sky bringing you all the gossip news you could ever hope for!”

He flew through the skyways over Vos, doing wreckless barrel rolls to avoid others when he was going the wrong way down the skyline. Several profanities were thrown his way, but the pirate radio-atier just laughed it off as he kept moving.

“And that fine example of upper class hospitality was brought to you by our usual sponsor…NO ONE! Haha, the joys of free press!”

He narrowly avoided a carrier with a package.

“Ooo, but anyone who says the view up here stinks, I challenge you to order from Lunar Metro Shipping because cha-ching! Someone in personnel should get a raise for hiring that sweet silver and lavender number.”

He slowed down, finding a tower top to land upon. He did so, shifting into his robot mode, landing squarely and easily. He tapped his audio piece, turning it back on.

“And we’re back folks! Sorry for the delay, you know how those show boating sky hogs can be,” he chuckled and started walking along the roof top’s edge. “But enough about me. Traffic is boring, the weather’s clear, and the day is dull! Time to open up he lines to callers! And lines are now…” he pressed a button on the transponder he had strapped to his waist and connected to his audio piece. “Open! So start call…what the…”

He was receiving a broadcast without manually accepting it; nothing like this had happened to him before. There were screams and sounds of chaos all around. He spun, trying futilely to search for a source to the rogue transmission. But of course, that was impossible.

“I’m sorry faithful listeners,” he tried to talk over the broadcast, fiddling with the transponder at his hip. “But we seem to be having some minor difficulties. We’re working to fix…”

The seeker’s words were cut off as a voice was added to the sounds of destruction.

“Cybertron hear me! I am Megatron, and soon you will be mine!”  
***  
“And after that, the whole civil war started up. I got pinched for pirating airwaves, and given the choice of rusting in jai or putting my skills to “proper use”.”

“Whoa,” SpeedTrap was amazed.

“So…you were bribed into helping then.”

“Well I wouldn’t put it that way Thommy-boy.”

“I would,” the red femme snorted, arms still crossed before her chassis in an unimpressed manor.

“Hey I would’ve signed up eventually.”

“Uhhu.”

He narrowed his optics a bit at her. “You don’t know what I would have or wouldn’t havr done.”

“Maybe not, but I know your type.”

The seeker grumbled, crossing his arms and leaning back; for once removing himself from this tired argument.

After a few silent moments, the teenager cleared his throat. “So…what about you Lady?”

“What about me?”

“You haven’t shared your story yet.”

She shot the younger bot a look for that comment. “I don’t do story time.”

“C’mon Lady,” Liftkit urged, trying to persuade with a grin. “We all shared.”

“That’s your problem, not mine.”

“Thought you wanted to teach the kid,” the seeker goaded, earning her dagger like glare. “How you gonna do that if you don’t tell him?”

“Fine, if you all want to hear my story so badly, you’ve got it. I am a solider. I always have been; I always will be. That’s the way it was in Tarn…”  
***  
The city state of Tarn stood strong and proud, as did its people. Iacon may have been the cultural center, and Vos the home of Air Command, but Tarn stood strong as the backbone of everything else. Many of Cybertron’s greatest heroes and warriors claimed Tarn as their home. Tarn was more than a city, it was a way of life; a proud legacy kept alive by its people.

And it was that legacy that this group of cadets was working to uphold.

“Alright you sad excuses for rust buckets! Five more laps then hit the showers!”

A group of 12 were running around the track outside the Recruitment Hall, being over seen by an older, experienced and retired sergeant. A few groaned at the remaining amount, a few made what they thought were clever comments directed at their superior, but one remained silent and focused.

That’s how Lady Bite was. She was focused and committed to becoming a solider. Too committed and focused some would say. She had become well known around the campus by the staff because of how many times she applied to get in, and now for how many times she repeated courses. No one denied she had the knowledge or abilities; it was the interpersonal skills she lacked.

“Well hey there pretty lady,” a gray mech jogged up to run alongside of the red femme; she ignored him of course, but for some reason he took that as an invitation to keep going. “So how about after this, we go and hit up the Energon Market for a drink?”

She still ignored him, trying to quicken her step, but he was persistent.

“Hello, Cybertron to Lady Bite, your audios on or what?”

“oh I hear you just fine,” she hissed, not missing a step. “I just didn’t feel like wasting my breath on such a stupid question.”

“Ouch, you wound me.”

“Hardly,” she scoffed.

“Geeze, would you learn to lighten up. No wonder everyone labels you as a psycho.”

She growled, fists tightening. Her companion didn’t seem to notice her rising anger; in fact he was dropping back and moving away from her. But it was too late to back out now. She stopped dead on the track, surprising those behind her.

“Gah! What the scrap!”

“Are we done now?”

“What’s the hold up here?”

She ignored the assorted comments, optics locked on and narrowed at the mech. Now he realized the error he had caused, and remembering stories others had told about how the red femme reacted angrily, he was starting to sweat.

“What, no comeback now?” she hissed, stepping towards him.

He tried to look for an escape, or support, or anything, but none of their peers were interested in getting caught in the crossfire.

“Alright, alright, break it up!” the old sergeant came down from his vantage point to break up the trouble before it went any further. “Everyone hit the showers, except you,” he looked straight at Lady Bite with that comment.

She wasn’t enthusiastic about it, but she did as she was instructed. The other didn’t need to be told twice, and so soon they were left alone on the track.

“Explain yourself Lady Bite.”

“Sir. He insulted myself, and I-”

“And you thought you’d just beat an apology out of him.”

She remained silent under his disapproving stare.

“And what exactly did he say that was so insulting?”

She adverted her optics slightly.

“Well solider.”

She mumbled a half hearted response.

“What was that, I couldn’t hear you.”

“Sir. He made a pass at me, sir. And then-”

“So a boy tries to flirt with you, and your response is to beat him up?”

“Sir. No, sir. My response was to ignore him, to which he called me a “psycho”, sir.”

“And you think trying to beat him up for flirting is going to prove him wrong?”

Her optics narrowed at that, but she tried to keep her tone leveled. “With all due respect sir, I am not here to attract a mate. I am here to become a solider, to fight for Tarn and Cybertron.”

The older bot sighed, this not being the first time having a conversation like this. “No one doubts that, but when you become so focused on one aspect, you loose sight of others.”

“I don’t understand sir.”

“And that’s the problem Lady Bite.”

“Sir?”

“I think you need to take some time off from here.”

“What? Sir, no,” her professional demeanor finally fully broken at the mention of her goal being further interrupted. “I’m already so far behind in comparison to my entry class as it is.”

“And do you know why that is?”

“I…”

“To be a good solider, you need to have your fellow team member’s backs. If you can’t be trusted to keep them alive, how can you trust them to do the same for you? You can’t be a one-bot army Lady.”

“Sir, please, if you would just give me another chance, I’m sure I-“

Their conversation was cut short as an alarm was sounded. Both of them rushed towards the Recruitment Hall, much like most of the campus’ occupants. A large view screen was brought up on the main hall; depictions of the arena at Kaon in flames played against it. Several forms walked away from the fires though, battered and beaten, but with an air of victory about them.

“Cybertron hear me!” the largest stepped forward, asserting himself as the leader it seemed, “I am Megatron, and soon you will be mine!”

“This…this is impossible,” the old sergeant breathed.

“What…what does this mean sir?”

“It means…you’ll be getting your second chance after all.”  
***  
“Then what happened?”

“Then the war happened,” the femme growled, annoyed by the stupidity of the question.

“Oh…right,” SpeedTrap looked down a bit there.

“Yeah, so there, story time is done,” the femme got up again now. “I’m turning in for the night.”

“You two should too,” the teal van directed that at the younger mech and human. “It is past curfew after all.”

“Do I really?” SpeedTrap asked. 

Thompson n the other hand was already heading to his corner of the hanger with no questions asked.

“Well I’m sure we could come up with some more stories,” Liftkit looked to Hawkeye.

“Shoot yeah! Could stay up all night with all the dirt I got.”

Halftime just shook his head at that, getting up. “Well I’ll be heading off to recharge myself then.”

“Alright babe, catch ya later.”

He nodded, but as he passed behind the younger bot he rested a hand on his shoulder. “Trust me, you’ll want to get out now before those two start going at it.”

And with that he left them too. The black and red bot didn’t heed the advice though; he looked eagerly to the two older mechs as they started bringing up and comparing battle scars. It was the beginning of quite a long night.


End file.
